Episodes

  • The Coffee Producer Toolkit #8: Decaf

    The Coffee Producer Toolkit #8: Decaf
    Nov 9 2026
    Support the show on Patreon to help us keep making new episodes.In this eighth episode, we give you a practical manual to take your coffee into the fast-growing market for decaf.We look at what it takes to decaffeinate coffee yourself on the farm. Then, we take you inside the Descamex plant in Veracruz, Mexico, to see how the Mountain Water Process works at scale, from steaming and osmosis to slow drying and in-house caffeine testing.We cover what decaffeination does to flavor: a mellowing of intensity, aromas that sometimes come forward, harsh coffees softened, and a "spa effect" that can bring tired, baggy coffee back to life. We also look at which of your lots to send first, and which to keep away from decaf.And we finish with the practical stuff: five-tonne minimum batches and why you should find your buyer before you commit, sharing a container and splitting a lot across smaller buyers, booking six to nine months ahead, what it costs, and why you should pass that cost on rather than swallow it.Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is.Over two years we interviewed 50+ producers and experts across 20 countries. Each episode takes one part of the business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are doing.Related podcast episodes:James:Filter Stories: How Heat Transforms Coffee BeansFilter Stories: How to Be a Better TasterFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramPeople mentioned in the episode:Gerrit Peters — 19grams / Grownd, Berlin, GermanyÓscar Hernández — Finca Nogales, Pitalito, Huila, ColombiaÓscar Hernández — Finca Nogales InstagramPablo Salazar — Cafeología, Chiapas, MexicoCarlos Rendón — Finca Kassandra, Veracruz, MexicoSergio de la Vequia — MexicoDemetrio Arandia, Daniel Robles and Ignacio Martínez — Descamex, Córdoba, Veracruz, MexicoMelissa de Gasperín — Rancho San Felipe, Veracruz, MexicoErnesto Pérez Orea — Grupo Cafetalero APG, Coatepec, Veracruz, MexicoCommunal Coffee — Berlin, GermanyResources:James Hoffmann's Decaf ProjectPhoto of the raw caffeine at Descamex (James's Instagram)NCA National Coffee Data Trends 2025Perfect Daily Grind: Does decaf deserve better?Lucia's Fermentation Training CampCoffees cupped before and after Descamex's Mountain Water Process: Brazil Sierra Negra, Peru SHB, Mexican SHG RFA, Colombian Organic JAS, Sumatra Mandailing G1, Ethiopia Sidamo G2Cover Art: Nick HafnerThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainProSupport the showSupport the show
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    49 mins
  • The Coffee Producer Toolkit #7: Storage

    The Coffee Producer Toolkit #7: Storage
    Oct 26 2026
    Support the show on Patreon to help us keep making new episodes.In this seventh episode, we give you a practical manual to protect the quality you've worked so hard to create, all the way from the coffee tree to the export container.During picking, we look at why heavy jute sacks crush and heat your cherries, and why smaller, ventilated, stackable baskets protect both your fruit and your workers.On the drying patio, we cover what unseasonal rain does to your parchment, from mould to faster fading, and compare plastic tarps with a collapsible dryer that zips shut. We also hear what Flávio Borém's research says about multi-phase drying.Once the coffee leaves the farm, we follow it through warehouses, ports and shipping containers. We hear what happens to jute sacks at the port of Cartagena, explain why regular plastic sacks aren’t good enough to protect coffee and how GrainPro's multi-layer bags block both oxygen and moisture. And we finish with the money: what hermetic bags cost, how to clean and reuse them, and why you should build their cost into your price when a buyer asks you for a micro-lot.The Coffee Producer Toolkit is the podcast that helps you run a more profitable coffee farm.Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is.Over two years we interviewed 50+ producers and experts across 20 countries. Each episode takes one part of the business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are doing.Related podcast episodes:Lucia:#68: Fermentation vs. Germination: A Look at The Seed From The Inside, Out (Flávio Borém's drying research and how drying works)James:Filter Stories: Farm to Port – Why Specialty Costs MoreFilter Stories: Freshness and Grinding, Pt 1 (oxidation, diffusion and how to store coffee)People mentioned in the episode:Ronald de Hommel — The Coffee QuestPaulino Quintero — Huila, ColombiaGilberto Baraona — Los Pirineos, Usulutan, El SalvadorMarvin Tala — Engineering Department head, GrainPro PhilippinesHazel Valera — COO, GrainPro PhilippinesResources:GrainPro hermetic bags, container linersNKG / GrainPro bag recyclingHow to Protect Coffee Against Container RainData loggersFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramCover Art: Nick HafnerThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainProSupport the showSupport the show
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    43 mins
  • The Coffee Producer Toolkit #6: Quality Control

    The Coffee Producer Toolkit #6: Quality Control
    Oct 12 2026
    Support the show on Patreon to help us keep making new episodes.In this sixth episode, we give you a practical manual to judge your own coffee quality, so you can negotiate with buyers on a level playing field.We start with the simplest step of all: drinking your own coffee. We cover how to brew and taste it, how to build a catalogue of its flavours, and why tasting your neighbours' coffees in a monthly tasting club gives you negotiating power.Then we look at sample roasting, and why a producer's goal is consistency rather than the perfect roast. With help from Thompson Owen of Sweet Maria's, we go from roasting in a pan, to a $30 popcorn popper, to top-end sample roasters, and lay out the basics of a consistent roast: weight, moisture loss, time and your own senses.We spend a good part of the episode on water, the most overlooked factor in how your coffee tastes on the cupping table. We start with a blind test at World of Coffee Geneva, where the same coffee tasted completely different just by changing the water. Then we explain alkalinity, how to test it with an inexpensive drip kit and what range to aim for, and we compare the options for getting good water on your farm: bottled water, distilled water with mineral sachets, under-sink filtration, and a full system that matches what your buyers use.And we finish with grading. How to use the Coffee Value Assessment to describe your coffee in the same language as your buyers and why you should always get more than one independent opinion on your quality.The Coffee Producer Toolkit is the podcast that helps you run a more profitable coffee farm.Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is.Over two years we interviewed 50+ producers and experts across 20 countries. Each episode takes one part of the business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are doing.Related podcast episodes:James:Filter Stories: How Heat Transforms Coffee BeansFilter Stories: How to Be a Better TasterFilter Stories: Getting Great Water, Step by StepPeople mentioned in the episode:Karla Boza — Jacinta Y Su Cafe, San Benito, El SalvadorPaulino Quintero — Huila, ColombiaJesús Antonio Chala — Finca El Silencio, ColombiaThompson Owen — Sweet Maria's Coffee, USALahari Balireddi — ASG Coffee, KenyaManuel Barsallo — Agrícola Geisha, PanamaLawrence — BWTResources:Video: How to Make Cold BrewPhysical Coffee DiaryDigital App: Coffee Brew LogDigital App: Tasting NotesSweet Maria's guide to roasting in a pan or popper, with videoSweet Maria's roasting on a pan or popper tip sheetSweet Maria's air popper resources and videoFilter Stories guide: Roasting your own coffee (English)Guía de Filter Stories: Cómo tostar tu propio café (en español)Guide to getting a good sample roastVideo: How to Cup Coffee at HomeSCA Cupping WorkshopVideo: How to use an Alkalinity Dropper KitBuy a water test kitSCA Water Control ChartWater calculator to adjust alkalinityMake your Own Water for CoffeeVideo: Make your own water for coffeeBWT bestmax PREMIUM (under-sink option)BWT bestbarista ROC COFFEEPDFs of CVA Form in 7 languagesThe SCA Coffee Value Assessment, Extrinsic Criteria ListDigital App: CatadorDigital: CVA in your web browserFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramCover Art: Nick HafnerThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainProSupport the showSupport the show
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    57 mins
  • The Coffee Producer Toolkit #5: Price

    The Coffee Producer Toolkit #5: Price
    Sep 28 2026

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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • The Coffee Producer Toolkit #4: Marketing & Sales

    The Coffee Producer Toolkit #4: Marketing & Sales
    Sep 14 2026
    Support the show on PatreonIn this fourth episode, we give you a practical guide to finding buyers and selling your coffee into the specialty market.And we finish with the sales conversation itself: the questions to ask in your first five minutes with a buyer, and how to handle the rejection that's coming, because it is coming.The Coffee Producer Toolkit is the podcast that helps you run a more profitable coffee farm.Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is.Related podcast episodes:Lucia:#54: Visiting Producers, Advanced Tourism & The Coffee Hunter (farm visits, the buyer relationship)#56: Pranoy Thipaia (finding export markets, expo advice)#65: To Blend or Not to Blend? Wine Vintages, and Harvest Update (sales strategy, consistency over novelty)Cabal Cafe Podcast en EspanolJames:Filter Stories: The Hard Business of Selling Beautiful CoffeeFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramPeople mentioned in the episode:Diego Robelo — Aquiares Estate, Turrialba, Costa RicaCristian Reyes — Finca El Rodeo, Santander, ColombiaCristian Reyes — Personal InstagramCatherine Bedoya — Eje Cafetero, ColombiaHamsini Appadurai — Sangameshwar Coffee Estates, Chikmagalur, IndiaMelissa de Gasperín — Rancho San Felipe, Veracruz, MexicoEdilberto Tovar — Finca La Esmeralda, Huila, ColombiaDesnudo Coffee (Austin) — Austin, Texas, USAAlejandro Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto RicoCésar Marín — Chacra D'Dago, PeruResources: Algrano — Producer Sign UpThe list of 144 international trade showsClases Gratis de Inglés en linea - USA LearnsClases Gratis de Inglés en linea - Voa NewsEnglish Accent TrainingThe SCA Coffee Value Assessment, Extrinsic Criteria ListPDFs of CVA Form in 7 languagesCover Art: Nick HafnerThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainProSupport the showSupport the show
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    59 mins
  • The Coffee Producer Toolkit #3: Fermentation

    The Coffee Producer Toolkit #3: Fermentation
    Aug 24 2026
    Support the show on PatreonIn this third episode, we give you a practical manual to take control of your fermentations and improve your farm's profitability. We start with the basics — what is actually happening inside your tank, where the microbes come from, and why your coffee is going to ferment whether you want it to or not. Then we go through five ways commercial microbes can make you money: consistency batch to batch, long fermentations you can run safely, lifting the score of your worst cherries rather than your best, clearing bottlenecks in your wet mill, and extending your coffee's shelf life. We cover what a well-run fermentation actually looks like — the cleaning, the monitoring, the record-keeping — with a step-by-step blue-barrel protocol for smaller farms and guidance on when to move to tanks. We also look at the investment sums needed for commercial yeasts and how to justify them. And we finish with the difficult questions — the environmental worries, whether using a starter culture is the same as adulterating your coffee, and how to talk about all of this with buyers who may view commercial microbes with suspicion.Related podcast episodes:Lucia: #72: Planning Your First Coffee Fermentation Trials? Start Here. #76: How Commercial Microbes Threaten The Coffee Industry#80: How Microbiology Can Explain Beginner's LuckJames:Filter Stories - Coffee Quality, Part 1: The birth of specialty coffee flavoursFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramPeople mentioned in the episode:Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia Victor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia Fridolin Stocker— Mount Sunzu, ZambiaShyira washing station, RwandaEvangelos Filippatos, La CabraLa Cabra, CopenhagenHelen Riley — NovonesisGunne Øregaard — NovonesisFranz Zeimetz — Lost Origin Coffee Labs, PanamaAlejandra Rodríguez Delgado — Hacienda San Pedrito, Puerto RicoGustavo Arroyo — Rancho Contento, Puerto RicoResources: pH meter & bufferThermometerNovonesis Pichia yeastNovonesis Lactobacillus bacteriaPressure washerFermentation Log SheetYeast’s impact on the environment in research on vineyardsSprudge Best Of Panama coverageLucia’s Fermentation Training CampCoffee Wet Mill SanitizeOpciones para la desinfección del beneficioCabal Cafe Podcast en Espanol Lucia's Favorite Tools:Temperature GunAmbient Temperature SensorTemperature ProbepH meter & buffer solution Cover Art: Nick HafnerThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainProSupport the show
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    1 hr and 8 mins
  • The Coffee Producer Toolkit #2: Processing

    The Coffee Producer Toolkit #2: Processing
    Aug 10 2026
    In this second episode, we show you how to stop losing coffee to a badly calibrated pulper, why chasing 100% ripe cherries is actually costing you money, the $480 fix that lets a small farm sort cherries perfectly well, how to keep your coffee under 40°C during drying without spending a fortune, why a mechanical dryer isn't the villain everyone says it is, the cheap instruments that will deliver consistent quality across harvests, and ways to treat your wastewater. The Coffee Producer Toolkit is the podcast that helps you run a more profitable coffee farm. Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is.Over two years we interviewed 50+ producers and experts across 20 countries. Each episode takes one part of the business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are doing.Related podcast episodes:Lucia:Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — How to De-Funkify your Naturals Making Coffee with Lucia Solis — Germination: A Close Look at Coffee Drying James:Filter Stories: Why One Colombian Farmer Chose Specialty, and the Other Walked AwayFollow us through our newsletters and Social media:Lucia’s NewsletterJames’s NewsletterLucia InstagramJames’ Filter Stories InstagramPeople mentioned in the episode:Lester Lerner, Old Willow Coffee, Colombia Orlando Osorio, La Primavera, Colombia Astrid Medina, Tolima, Colombia David Velásquez, Los Naranjos, El Salvador Jesús Antonio Chala, Finca El Silencio, ColombiaVictor Chala, Palma Rosa, Colombia Melissa de Gasperín, Rancho San Felipe, Córdoba, Mexico Norberto Suárez, Boquete, Panama César Marín, Chacra D'Dago, Peru Manuel Matta, Santa Maria, Colombia Resources: Innovakit: canguaro (picking sleeves) Pinhalense Cherry Floater Pinhalense Vertical Pulper Pinhalense Mechanical Dryers Tolva — Plastic Vertical Hopper Moisture Meter (Mid Tier) Moisture Meter (High End) Cenicafé Low-Water Wet Milling (Ecomill-type systems) Flávio Borém Drying Research DIY Moisture Maths (weight + fixed volume) Lucia's Favorite Tools:Temperature GunAmbient Temperature SensorTemperature ProbepH meter & buffer solution Cover Art: Nick HafnerThe Coffee Producer Toolkit is made possible by these leading coffee organisations:The Coffee Quest | BWT | Descamex | InterAmerican | Pinhalense | Novonesis | GrainProSupport the show
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • The Coffee Producer Toolkit #1: Farming

    The Coffee Producer Toolkit #1: Farming
    Jul 27 2026
    The Coffee Producer Toolkit is the podcast that can help you run a more profitable coffee farm. Hosted by coffee journalist James Harper (Filter Stories podcast) and fermentation specialist Lucia Solis (Making Coffee with Lucia Solis podcast), it's built for farmers who want to run their farm like the business it is.Over two years we interviewed 50+ producers and experts across 20 countries. Each episode takes one part of the business — agronomy, processing, fermentation, storage, quality, sales — and lays out what the best farms are doing.In this first episode, we show you how you can benchmark your farm against the two numbers that matter, protect your flowering without paying for irrigation, avoid the exotic variety trap that's costing farmers their harvests, stop wasting money on fertilizer your soil doesn't need, and save weeks of labor a year with tools that cost less than $50.Follow us on Instagram - Lucia (@lluciasolis) - James (@filterstoriespodcast) and tag us in an Instagram story. Join our Patreon community to be a part of our live Office Hours sessions. Stay up to date through our newsletterDiscover how James produces Filter Stories episodes by subscribing to his Substack newsletter Cover Art Designed by Nick HafnerRelated Podcasts:Lucia:#79: Farm First: Lalo Perez on Long-Term Coffee HealthJames:The Science of Coffee: The Magic of SoilsThe Science of Coffee: Plant GeneticsPeople mentioned in episode:Fernando Castillo GuatemalaPaulino Quintero, ColombiaOrlando Osoria, ColombiaJulia Ortega, MexicoSergio de la Vequia, MexicoHugo lopez, InnovakitAgronomists:Manuel Mata, ColombiaSam Knowlton, USALalo Perez, Mexico ResourcesAnacafe technical management Coffee Cascara Compost Guidelines (English) Compostaje de la pulpa/cáscara de café (Espanol)Netafim Drip Irrigation manualInnovakit: abonador (fertiliser applicator) Innovakit: aroplateo (tree guard for weed whacking) Innovakit: selector de arvenses (low-drift sprayer)Innovakit: canguaro (sleeves) World Coffee Research variety catalogueRecommended varieties: Centroamericano, H1, H16, Mundo MayaCoffee&Climate ToolboxAccess AgricultureWorld Coffee Research ResourcesBarista Hustle’s Coffee Farm Management seriesOur partner sponsorsThe Coffee QuestDescamexBWTInterAmerican CoffeePinhalenseNovonesisGrainProSupport the show
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    1 hr and 7 mins